Company practices requiring consumer protection

The chapter examines the various ways thereby companies may implement sharp practices, detrimental to consumers, from which consumers need protection. These practices are certainly not a novelty but in more recent times, sharp practices have received much higher attention and elicited stronger and more widespread reactions. While governments have introduced tighter rules for consumer protection, consumers still need to be aware of the potential for incorrect behaviour from some companies. The chapter presents the possible unfair practices according to the marketing tool that is the instrument of such practice. Unfair practices related to the product are discussed first, followed by those based on misleading communication and those related to price. In addition, unfair practices connected to contractual terms are considered. Finally, the risks to the consumer from the increasingly widespread use of internet and social media are also discussed. Each section considers the ways the unfair practices, referring to the specific tools, can materialise and then presents some illustrative cases as examples of that type of practices.